S2E2: Zigzags of Treachery, part 2

In the conclusion of our Season 2 premiere,  the life of an innocent woman hangs in the balance, and only a letter can save her – if the Tec can find it in time! Adapted from the Continental Op story of the same name by Dashiell Hammett, originally published in the March 1, 1924 issue of "Black Mask" magazine. Starring The NARADA RADIO COMPANY

Adapted and directed by Pete Lutz

Post-production by Fishbonius Sound Design

Theme and certain musical passages by Dr. Ross Bernhardt

Darren Rockhold as YOUR ANNOUNCER

Pete Lutz as THE TEC

Noah Diamond as ATTORNEY VANCE RICHMOND

Jason D. Johnson as O'GAR

Frank Guglielmelli as MR. STACEY

Jeff Moon as DR. ESTEP 

Geri Elliff as EDNA ESTEP

Mark Kalita as DICK FOLEY

Jordan Bruster as BOB TEAL

Paul Arbisi as LEDWICH and HAMMETT'S VOICE

Rachel Pulliam as THE MAID and

Joe Stofko as THE OLD MAN 

I had some bandwidth left over at the end of the month, that I didn't want to see go to waste, so I decided to post this fun musical program that I had on cassette and converted to digital. Enjoy!

In their final appearance for the 2022 Sonic Summerstock Playhouse, the Narada Radio Company proudly presents a remake of Lux Radio Theatre's LES MISERABLES, from the 1952 film starring Michael Rennie, Robert Newton and Debra Paget. 

ANNOUNCER: Darren Rockhold

JEAN VALJEAN – Les Marsden 

JAVERT – Pete Lutz 

COSETTE – Rhiannon McAfee 

ROBERT – Greg McAfee 

JUDGE/PROSECUTOR/GUSTAVE – Larry Groebe 

RIMBAUD/GENFLOU – Paul Arbisi 

BISHOP – Karim Kronfli

MME. MAGLOIRE – Pam Pailes 

CORPORAL/COCHESPAILLE – Dave Robison 

SILVERSMITH – Jack Ward 

MENTOU - Ross Bernhardt

FANTINE – Carole Krohn 

MATHIEU/REVOLUTIONARY – Lothar Tuppan 

BREVET/DUPUY – John Bell 

MARIUS/BYSTANDER – Dana Gonsalves 

Director/Producer: Pete Lutz

Music by Ross Bernhardt

AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS - Originally released 10/2/20

Project Audion's live-transcribed cross-continental Zoom-based production for October [2020] is an episode from Orson Welles' Mercury Theatre On the Air from 1938. No, not the "War of the Worlds" which everyone knows, but "Around the World in 80 Days" which aired the week before. Welles, John Houseman, and Howard Koch condensed Jules Verne's 1872 novel into a fast-paced 60 minutes, and fewer than 20 characters (which we handle by doubling each actor's part.) Phileas Fogg's journey started October 2, 1872 at about 9 PM: Project Audion's recreation premieres exactly 148 years later!

In our sterling cast:

Paul Arbisi / Illinois

John Bell / Alabama

Norman Cline / Kentucky

Aileen Corpos / Texas

Dana Gonsalves / Texas

Larry Groebe / Texas

Pete Lutz / Texas

Les Marsden / California

Pete Lutz directed, and Larry Groebe produced

The Saint - "the Robin Hood of modern crime" and star of scores of books, TV shows, movies, and also a well-remembered radio series - is Project Audion's latest radio recreation. Vincent Price was urbanely brilliant as Simon Templar on the radio, but he only came to the show in 1947. The first series aired in 1945 with Edgar Barrier, and no recordings exist.

Project Audion's vintage script of the episode "The Million Dollar Day" was only the 4th-ever episode. This Saint has sidekicks! We were also lucky to speak with Saint expert Ian Dickerson in England for a pre-show interview, and doubly lucky to locate a still-working SONOVOX (and experienced operator Ken Justiss) to recreate the once-famous sound effect of the "Bromo-Seltzer Train."

Our transcontinental transcription recording session was challenged by electrical storms and some camera glitches, but we pulled it off!

Our cast includes:

THE SAINT: Les Marsden, CA

HOPPY/JANITOR: Pete Lutz, TX

PATRICIA: Rhiannon McAfee, CA

MONTEIRO: Dana Gonsalves, TX

KUZELA: Frank Guglielmelli, PA

FERNACK/ANNOUNCER: John Bell, AL

Mr. Lutz directed this episode, and Larry Groebe produced, managed sound, and growled.

(Orig. rel. 8/14/22) The United Artists of Mutual present: Danse Macabre, a segment from a 1938 broadcast of The Royal Desserts Hour. Written by Arch (Lights Out) Oboler, this short piece describes how composer Camille Saint-Saëns might have been inspired to write the piece that made him famous.

With the voices of John Bell as Old Jacques and The Stranger; and Pete Lutz as Rudy Vallee and Saint-Saëns. Mr. Bell and Mr. Lutz also play the voices of the ghosts in the graveyard.

(Orig. rel. 8/14/22) The United Artists of Mutual present: More Bob & Ray! Recorded especially for Sonic Summerstock Playhouse 2022, it features Jeff Billard in the roles of Bob Elliott, and Pete Lutz as the many voices of Ray Goulding, in a half-hour of zany sketches. Enjoy!

1. Show open/Public Service Message

2. Fern Ock Veek, Sickly Whale Oil Processor

3. Einbinder Flypaper commercial

4. Happy Birthday, Ken Vose!

5. Anxiety!

6. Monongahela Metal Foundry commercial

7. Search for Togetherness

8. Mr. Science

9. Closing

S2E1: Zigzags of Treachery, part 1

In our Season 2 premiere, a man comes face-to-face with his past, and his wife gets blamed for the mess he leaves behind! Adapted from the Continental Op story of the same name by Dashiell Hammett, originally published in the March 1, 1924 issue of "Black Mask" magazine. Starring The NARADA RADIO COMPANY

Adapted and directed by Pete Lutz

Post-production by Fishbonius Sound Design

Theme and certain musical passages by Dr. Ross Bernhardt

CAST:

ANNOUNCER: Darren Rockhold

THE TEC: Pete Lutz

VANCE RICHMOND: Noah Diamond

STACEY: Frank Guglielmelli

LUCY COE: Rachel Pulliam

DR HUMBERT ESTEP: Jeff Moon

EDNA ESTEP: Geri Elliff

DICK FOLEY: Mark Kalita

BOB TEAL: Jordan Bruster

LEDWICH: Paul Arbisi

BOYD: John Bell

THE OLD MAN: Joe Stofko

Series created by Pete Lutz & Mark Slade

FIND THE COMPLETE FIRST SEASON (8 EPISODES) HERE AT NARADA RADIO COMPANY!

Today is a good day to listen to Bad Day at Black Rock, Project Audion's latest radio drama recreation. We're going far afield with this 1959 show, because by this time in America, television had killed off the great radio movie adaptation series like "Lux Radio Theatre." In other countries like Australia, radio drama still thrived through shows like Caltex Theatre. They adapted Bad Day at Black Rock from the gritty, Oscar-nominated 1955 drama with Spencer Tracy, where one man takes on a dying town that harbors a dirty secret. Now Project Audion recreates it with a transcribed-live coast-to-coast cast which includes:

MACREEDY: Les Marsden (CA)

SMITH/JENKINSON: Pete Lutz (TX)

COLEY/ANNOUNCER: Tom Konkle (CA)

DOC: Dana Gonsalves (TX)

SHERIFF/CONDUCTOR 2: John Bell (AL)

PETE: Austin Hanna (TX)

HASTINGS: Gino Vianelli (CA)

LIZ: Jesirae Kesler (TX)

VOICE/SAM/CONDUCTOR 1: Larry Groebe (TX)

Pete Lutz directed, & Larry Groebe produced

(Orig. rel. 7/24/22) Please enjoy part two of this special re-enactment of a classic radio play (adapted from a famous film and stage play). Twentieth Century is a screwball comedy, with laughs and situations that come at you as rapidly as the railroad train for which it's named. Listen and enjoy! 

CAST OF CHARACTERS:

Les Marsden as OSCAR JAFFE

Rhiannon McAfee as LILY GARLAND

Dana Gonsalves as OWEN O'MALLEY

Pete Lutz as OLIVER WEBB and McGONIGLE

Lothar Tuppan as MAX JACOBS, LLOYD, and GERMAN ACTOR 1

John Bell as MR. CLARK and the COP

Rachel Pulliam as SADIE

Tom Konkle as GEORGE SMITH and ANNOUNCER

Carl Thomas as UNCLE RUFUS and THE PORTER

Larry Groebe as THE CONDUCTOR

Jesirae Kesler as ANITA and MISS SCHULTZ

Gino Vinanelli as FLANNAGAN, POP, and GERMAN ACTOR 2

Victoria Fancki as VALERIE and the WOMAN ON THE TRAIN

Jason D. Johnson as FATHER and the MAN ON THE TRAIN and

Jack Ward as STANLEY, the SHERIFF, and the WESTERN UNION MAN

Music by Ross Bernhardt

Special thanks to Rick Tribble for providing the "Rail Sounds" LP that furnished most of the...um...rail sounds. 

(Orig. rel. 7/24/22) Please enjoy part one of this special re-enactment of a classic radio play (adapted from a famous film and stage play). Twentieth Century is a screwball comedy, with laughs and situations that come at you as rapidly as the railroad train for which it's named. Listen and enjoy! 

CAST OF CHARACTERS:

Les Marsden as OSCAR JAFFE

Rhiannon McAfee as LILY GARLAND

Dana Gonsalves as OWEN O'MALLEY

Pete Lutz as OLIVER WEBB and McGONIGLE

Lothar Tuppan as MAX JACOBS, LLOYD, and GERMAN ACTOR 1

John Bell as MR. CLARK and the COP

Rachel Pulliam as SADIE

Tom Konkle as GEORGE SMITH and ANNOUNCER

Carl Thomas as UNCLE RUFUS and THE PORTER

Larry Groebe as THE CONDUCTOR

Jesirae Kesler as ANITA and MISS SCHULTZ

Gino Vinanelli as FLANNAGAN, POP, and GERMAN ACTOR 2

Victoria Fancki as VALERIE and the WOMAN ON THE TRAIN

Jason D. Johnson as FATHER and the MAN ON THE TRAIN and

Jack Ward as STANLEY, the SHERIFF, and the WESTERN UNION MAN

Music by Ross Bernhardt

Special thanks to Rick Tribble for providing the "Rail Sounds" LP that furnished most of the...um...rail sounds. 

(Orig. rel. date 7/3/22) Sonic Summerstock Playhouse returns with part two of this very special remake of a BBC Sunday Night Theatre episode from 1958. We hope you enjoy it! It was recorded over Zoom using actors in California, Illinois, Texas, Alabama and Nova Scotia. 

Gareth Severn as the BBC ANNOUNCER

Les Marsden as CAPTAIN QUEEG

Dana Gonsalves as LIEUTENANT MARYK

Austin Hanna as LT JUNIOR GRADE KEITH

Tom Konkle as LT KEEFER

Carl Yowell as LCDR CHALLEE

Chuck Wilson as CAPTAIN SOUTHARD

Joe Martinez as DR LUNDEEN

Paul Arbisi as DR BIRD

Rachel Pulliam as PETTY OFFICER URBAN

John Bell as CAPTAIN BLAKELY

Jessica Mathews as the STENOGRAPHER

Ebony Rose as the ORDERLY and

Pete Lutz as LIEUTENANT GREENWALD

Additional voices: Dave Robison, Edward Champion

Music for this production was composed and performed by Dr. Ross Bernhardt.

(Orig. rel. date 7/3/22) Sonic Summerstock Playhouse returns with part one of this very special remake of a BBC Sunday Night Theatre episode from 1958. We hope you enjoy it! It was recorded over Zoom using actors in California, Illinois, Texas, Alabama and Nova Scotia. 

Gareth Severn as the BBC ANNOUNCER

Les Marsden as CAPTAIN QUEEG

Dana Gonsalves as LIEUTENANT MARYK

Austin Hanna as LT JUNIOR GRADE KEITH

Tom Konkle as LT KEEFER

Carl Yowell as LCDR CHALLEE

Chuck Wilson as CAPTAIN SOUTHARD

Joe Martinez as DR LUNDEEN

Paul Arbisi as DR BIRD

Rachel Pulliam as PETTY OFFICER URBAN

John Bell as CAPTAIN BLAKELY

Jessica Mathews as the STENOGRAPHER

Ebony Rose as the ORDERLY and

Pete Lutz as LIEUTENANT GREENWALD

Additional voices: Dave Robison, Edward Champion

Music for this production was composed and performed by Dr. Ross Bernhardt.

Old-time Radio Essentials continues its 3rd season with an episode of Dimension-X – their adaptation of a story by H. Beam Piper, "Time and Time Again"! This one's Dave's pick, and there's taut sci-fi a-plenty in the selection, followed by fast-paced discussion of its merits by the three co-hosts. Will Dave over-explain everything, leaving Pete and Paul with nothing to say? Tune in and find out!!

And since we're on the subject of finding things out, while you listen you'll learn if we feel this entry meets the following criteria:

Your feedback means a lot to us! A review at iTunes or at your usual podcatcher would be appreciated.

Next Time: Paul's pick, an episode of Broadway is My Beat!

OLIVIA (HORROR)

(Originally launched elsewhere in 2020) Teenage Drea is having a terrible life, but she's found a doll named Olivia -- and Olivia promises she can make Drea's life better, just so long as the girl delivers others to be sacrificed.

Featuring Pete Lutz as The Stranger, Mr. Newman, the Bartender, and Sammy

Starring Kessi Riliniki as Olivia
Jackie Ayers as Drea
Tanja Milojevic as the Mother
Lothar Tuppan as the Father
Alisha Strand-Mueller as Linda
Michele Cotter as the Secretary
George Hatfield as Bobby

Written by Mark Slade
Music by Kevin MacLeod of Incompetech.com, Carpenter's Notch and Audionautix.com
Sound effects from the public domain and from freesound . org
Guest Producer: Pete Lutz

ESCAPE: The Derelict

Recently released on the Mutual Audio Network's Sonic Summerstock Playhouse, the Narada Radio Company presents their re-imagining of "The Derelict", an episode of the OTR series ESCAPE, first aired in 1953. Originally set in one of Earth's oceans, director Pete Lutz picked up our castaways and placed them in outer space. Listen as one woman and three men survive the destruction of their spacecraft and take refuge on a deserted, ancient rocketship. Once onboard, personalities collide and tempers flare after the discovery of an abandoned treasure.

CAST:

ANNOUNCERS: Jason D. Johnson, Pete Lutz

CORA: Kristy Glick

KEETMAN: Karim C. Kronfli

MIKE: Larry Groebe

LU WA: Pete Lutz

COMMERCIAL: Mrs. Holepuncher

Music by Dr. Ross Bernhardt

SONIC SUMMERSTOCK PLAYHOUSE 2021: Algiers, from Lux Radio Theatre

Director Pete Lutz presents an extended adaptation of Lux Radio Theatre’s ALGIERS - the story of French jewel thief Pepe Le Moko, who evades capture by hiding in plain sight, in the maze-like Casbah district. When he meets the beautiful Gabrielle, he begins to hate his surroundings — and realizes that he has made his own prison within these ancient walls.

CAST OF CHARACTERS:

Announcer: Darren Rockhold

Hedy Lamarr/Gaby: Victoria Fancki

Charles Boyer/Pepe Le Moko: Pete Lutz

Slimane: Les Marsden

DeMille: Joe Martinez

Prefect of Police: Pete Lutz

Ines: Jessica Mathews

Regis: Dana Gonsalves

Grandpere: Paul Arbisi

Janvier: John Bell

Andre: Carl Yowell

L'Arbi and Maxim: Gareth Severn

Carlos: Jason D. Johnson

Marie: Aileen Corpos

Pierrot: Rachel Pulliam

Aicha: Dawn Robertson

Additional voices were provided by Geri Elliff, Kendra Murray, and members of the cast.

Music by Dr. Ross Bernhardt

Old-time Radio Essentials continues its 3rd season with an episode of the Lux Radio Theatre – their adaptation of the Western film "Red River", starring John Wayne! This one's Pete's pick, and there's action a-plenty in the selection, followed by fast-paced discussion of its merits by the three co-hosts. Will Pete and Paul have a Walter Brennan voice-off, reluctantly judged by Dave? Tune in and find out!!

And since we're on the subject of finding things out, while you listen you'll learn if we feel this entry meets the following criteria:

Your feedback means a lot to us! A review at iTunes or at your usual podcatcher would be appreciated.

Next Time: Dave's pick, and all he'll tell us is that it's in the Sci-Fi genre!

SAVE THE LAST WORD FOR ME #7: Chatting with voice actors and audio drama creators Rhiannon and Greg McAfee (5/2017)

Again from our archives, we present the 7th episode of a discussion podcast that I had high hopes for, but which only went for 9 episodes or so. But the discussions are fun and if you're interested in voice actors' lives, we delve pretty deep in these interviews. 

Rhiannon & Greg McAfee are a terrifically talented couple from California, whose work I first discovered in 2016 or so, when I first heard the outstanding audio drama series "Rex Rivetter, Private Eye". Greg wrote the scripts, Rhiannon directed and played the detective's Girl Friday. Since our interview, both of them have appeared in a number of my audio dramas, and I was lucky enough to make it into one episode of RRPE before production ceased. Enjoy this most excellent discussion with two excellent folks!

SAVE THE LAST WORD FOR ME #6: Chatting with podcaster, audio dramatist, collaborator, voice actor and friend Jack Ward (03/2017)

Again from our archives, we present the 6th episode of a discussion podcast that I had high hopes for, but which only went for 9 episodes or so. But the discussions are fun and if you're interested in voice actors' lives, we delve pretty deep in these interviews. 

Jack Ward is the creator and co-host of "The Sonic Society", a long-running weekly podcast out of Halifax, Nova Scotia that showcases new audio dramas. He featured my first two episodes of "Pulp-Pourri Theatre" back in 2013, no questions asked, even though the productions themselves were, to be honest, questionable. But we have become good friends, and have collaborated on many projects since then, and have joined with a handful of other like-minded individuals to create the Mutual Audio Network. Jack is the head-man at the tiller though, make no mistake. Anyway, this interview was fun and I hope you enjoy it.

SAVE THE LAST WORD FOR ME #4 and 5: Chatting with voice actor and audio dramatist Jon Grilz (01/2017)

Again from our archives, we present the 4th and 5th episodes of a discussion podcast that I had high hopes for, but which only went for 9 episodes or so. But the discussions are fun and if you're interested in voice actors' lives, we delve pretty deep in these interviews. 

Jon Grilz is the creator, producer and star of the "Small Town Horror" audio drama series, and our discussion spans two episodes because in the first one we talked for more than an hour, but later discovered that the recorder had punked out on us about 20 min. into our discussion. So we got together a second time and chatted for about another hour, and that one was successfully saved for the ages. Nowadays Jon is involved with the "Creepypods" series. Enjoy our freewheeling chat from five years ago!

I lied a year ago when I indicated that I'll be posting these re-runs monthly, sorry about that. But nobody wrote to complain, so I guess it wasn't important anyway. Cheers!

Season Three of Old-Time Radio Essentials continues! This time it's Paul's pick -- and he's rooted around until he found a real "gem" for us to enjoy and discuss.

And since we're on the subject of discussion, we hope to determine whether this entry meets the following criteria:

Your feedback means a lot to us! A review at iTunes or at your usual podcatcher would be appreciated.

Next Time: An episode of Lux Radio Theatre!

Originally released 5/29/20. Transcribed live from California, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennesee, and Texas... Project Audion presents a recreation of the 1937 Columbia Workshop broadcast of "R.U.R: Rossum's Universal Robots."

Pete Lutz of Narada Radio Company, director of this re-creation, says this about his choice of show: "I love the historical sense of the story. Here's Carel Kapek, in 1920 or '21, foreseeing A.I., prophesying humans' dependence on technology. Of course, robots themselves, thank the gods, haven't been perfected to the same extent. But there are so many wonderful elements in the story: all the men on the island are in love with Helena, and this unrequited love felt by Dr. Gall leads to their downfall. The robots evolve in different ways, though: some become murderous, yet two show more humane tendencies: love, compassion, sacrifice. I first heard the BBC's radio adaptation of this, which was about two hours long. Then I found the script we use here and felt that the main points of the story were covered sufficiently in a half-hour. It's exciting, dramatic, and sentimental. Columbia Workshop had geniuses working for them."

Project Audion is a collection of voice actors from across North America who are recreating classic shows from Radio's Golden Age via videoconference .

(Orig. launch date 7/24/20) Project Audion presents our recreation of an episode of Screen Guild Theatre, AKA Hollywood Soundstage. "The Ox-Bow Incident" was a best-selling book in 1940, a blockbuster Western movie in 1943, and adapted for the Screen Guild Theatre radio show no less than three times. Our version is from 1952. It's a story of vengeance and violence -- a gritty look at a group of men who turned into a mob.

"The Ox-Bow Incident" was directed by Pete Lutz / Corpus Christi, Texas and produced by Larry Groebe / Grapevine, Texas, and used a coast-to-coast cast of 14 people situated from Nova Scotia to San Francisco:

Paul Arbisi / Peoria, Illinois

John Bell / Alabaster, Alabama

Denise Cline / Nicholasville, Kentucky

Norman Cline / Nicholasville, Kentucky

Dana Gonsalves / Corpus Christi, Texas

John Mauldin / Nashville, Tennessee

Chris Messersmith / Dallas Texas

Ken Raney / Arlington, Texas

Carl Thomas / Rockport, Texas

Lothar Tuppan / San Francisco, California

Jack Ward / Halifax, Nova Scotia

Angela Young / Palm Coast, Florida

(Orig. launch date 5/7/21) Project Audion's 2nd season begins like our first season, with an episode of the classic radio drama Suspense. "Pearls are a Nuisance", aired on CBS 4/20/50, is a satirical detective drama based on a story by Raymond Chandler, which starred Ray Milland. Walter Gage is trying to track down some stolen pearls, and must call upon a gentleman of dubious morals to help him.

Our transcribed-live drama includes voice actors from California all the way to England:

Joe Mendell (UK) – Announcer

Pete Lutz (TX) - Harlow Wilcox, Henry

Doug Fain (TX) - Walter

Rhiannon McAfee (CA) - Ellen

Angela Young (FL) - Dora, Teller

Greg McAfee (CA) - Mr. Gallemore, Voice

Dana Gonsalves (TX) - Manager, Scandesi

Mr. Lutz directed, while Larry Groebe handled production and sound.